


Seaver's Cleaver

by garfieldfan420



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Could be Seaver/Reid if you squint, Gen, no beta we die like men, title may change, we love a vigilante
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garfieldfan420/pseuds/garfieldfan420
Summary: Agent Ashley Seaver was asked to never return to the BAU after her run in with Drew Jacobs. She put the team and a child at risk after all. She quits the FBI program and is at a loss with what to do with her life now that the job she has wanted since her dad was arrested is no longer an option. She then realizes that she could be a whole lot more productive in ridding the world of serial killers without all that pesky red tape and rules.
Relationships: Spencer Reid & Ashley Seaver
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Agent Ashley Seaver tried to calm down, tried to slow her breathing. She held her temporary BAU badge in her hand like she was afraid of a slight breeze blowing it away. Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner was holding his hand out, palm up. Expectant. She loosened her grip on the laminated card and placed it into his hand. He put it down on his desk immediately and let out a breath. 

“This isn’t the end of your career at the FBI, Ashley. It’s just the end of your career with the BAU.” Agent Hotchner tried to keep a sharp disapproving look but when he saw Ashley all he could see was the scared young woman who he held back as she screamed for her father. The same father who had his hands behind his back on a black FBI vehicle. She sobbed for him, so loudly and so painfully that Hotch could still hear it. He couldn’t be angry with her, he just felt sorry for her. Agent Ashley Seaver knew that he thought this and it only made her angry. She left his office and tried to keep her head up as she walked through the bullpen. She felt everyone’s eyes on her. Agent Reid seemed to understand something about her in a way neither of them could fully comprehend. His eyes were not full of pity, nor were they full of disgust. She stopped to look back at him. 

“I know you don’t like hugs but-“ She paused and swallowed. Ashley felt tears dangerously close to falling and she looked up slightly. Spencer closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into the hug and placed her face against his shoulder, his sweater soaking up tears. She wrapped her arms around him and they stood like that for a minute. They let go at the same time and Ashley laughed a bit through tears when she saw the marks she left on Spencer’s shoulder. 

“Call me if you need me?” Spencer didn’t mean for it to be a question but Ashley nodded anyways and smiled at him. She wiped away the final tears with her sleeve and continued to walk out of the bullpen, then down the elevator, and she was finally outside. She took a deep breath and screamed. She screamed at the sky, then she screamed at the building she had just left. She screamed at her father. She screamed at her mother. She screamed at herself. Everyone on the street turned to stare at her. A few people ran away, or really just quickly walked away. The scream became less human the longer it went on until it dissolved into nonhuman guttural cries. This was the last thing Ashley Seaver did as an FBI agent. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ashley spent the next few weeks wallowing. She wandered around her crappy D.C. apartment, mourning the loss of her dream job. She replayed the scene in Agent Hotchner’s office feeling queasy when she saw the disappointed look in Hotch’s eyes. His pity radiated off of him. She was watching old episodes of Judge Judy when there was a soft knock on the door. She froze and stared at the door. She didn’t know many people here, nobody that would pay a visit to her. She slid down behind her couch and peered at the door from her new hidden position. 

“Ashley?” A gentle voice came from behind the door and she sat back up. 

“Spencer?” She responded as she walked to the door. She pulled the door open slightly, just enough so she could see Spencer. He was dressed in the most “Spencer” way imaginable. She opened the door fully. He was wearing his thick black glasses he hardly ever wore. He had a tan sweater vest over his cream colored button up shirt and a strangely patterned blue tie. He had a cardigan over that. His pants were the same dark brown as his cardigan and were cuffed to show his mismatched colorful socks. His shoes were pointed and looked strangely secondhand. Ashley realized that she just looked him up and down and felt slightly shy. 

“I came to check up on you. We just got back from a case in Florida. A man was killing sex workers and displaying them at local parks.” Seaver nodded absentmindedly, that was more information than she needed. 

“I’m doing fine,” They looked at each other in silence for a moment. “Would you like to come in? I could make coffee?” Ashley stepped to the side to allow Spencer to walk in. 

“I’d prefer tea.” Spencer wrung his hands as he stepped into the apartment. Ashley chuckled a bit, but Spencer was serious.

“Oh. Yeah, I think I have tea.” Ashley disappeared into the kitchen. Spencer looked around and was slightly disturbed by the state of the apartment. It was far from what he expected. Ashley always dressed like she was trying to gain approval from others. Her hair was always freshly washed and pulled back. Even now she looked slightly put together in a matching pajama set and slippers, her hair in a low bun. Her apartment was a disaster, though. The paint on the walls was peeling off in large spots, the carpet was stained, everything coasted in a thick layer of dust. He couldn’t see the large pile of dishes in her sink, the mostly empty and dirty fridge, nor could he see the state her bedroom was in. The apartment smelled off too. It didn’t smell like Ashley, it smelled like an untouched basement. The couch that Ashley had been on when he knocked was covered in blankets and food wrappers. He even saw a few McDonald’s bags. Ashley came back with two mugs in her hands. 

“I know you like your coffee sweet so I added a bunch of sugar to this tea. I think it’s just black tea but I’m not sure. Also I made it with hot water from my keurig.” She awkwardly handed Spencer a mug. He looked at it, slightly suspicious of it. He took a sip and tried to hide a grimace. “Oh god it’s bad isn’t it?” Ashley asked, looking at her own mug with the same distrust.

“No, no it’s fine.” Spencer insisted, taking another small sip. Ashley set her own mug down on a coffee table and held her hands out for Spencer’s.

“You do  _ not _ have to drink that.” Spencer gave up easily, and placed the mug in her outstretched hands. She sat down on the couch and held her hand out in the air towards the other side of the couch. Spencer sat down where she motioned. “So you really just came here to check on me?” 

“Yes.” Spencer said unconvincingly. Ashley raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed. “The last case went badly.” He offered up no further information. After a moment Ashley picked the conversation back up.

“How so?” 

“We had a suspect but we needed a warrant to get into and check out his house. The judge refused to give us one.” Spencer paused. 

“Is that all?” Spencer shook his head.

“When we finally got in we found that he had already taken another victim, earlier than we were expecting. She had just died Morgan kicked in the door. If we were just the slightest bit earlier she would be alive now.” Spencer looked down at his hands that he had folded in his lap. His eyebrows furrowed in such a way that Ashley could not tell if he was angry or sad. “She had a son. He’s autistic and seeing him be taken away from his home…” Spencer’s voice cracked slightly. “We put up all these walls we tell ourselves that we are so used to seeing these things that they won’t haunt us but then something always comes along that momentarily brings all those walls down. Then everything hurts again, every victim we could have saved haunts me.” Ashley reached over and placed her hand on Spencer’s shoulder. She saw a few tears fall into his hands. “I couldn’t talk about this with the rest of the team because they always try to remind me of everyone we’ve saved. It doesn’t feel right to me: to ignore the ones we lost. If I don’t hurt for some of these people who else would? Who else could?” Ashley just nodded. They sat together in silence for a long while. Spencer left before dinner, Ashley joked that he was scared of what she would make since she ruined tea. Spencer said he had a headache that seemed to be more like a migraine and he left. 


End file.
